Knife



Oct. 26, 1943.

M. A. MIRANDO KNIFE Filed July 2, 1942 INVENTOR. MICHAEL A. M/R4/v0oJM'J'JTL flTTOENEY Patented Oct. 26, 1943 anaestpivrreo stares rarestorrics Michael A. Mirando, Providence, R. to Imperial Knife Company,Inc.,

1., assignor Providence,

18.1., a corporation of Rhode Island Application July 2, 1942, SerialNo. 449,417

1 Claim.

This invention relates to knives. More particularly the invention isconcerned with knives having a plurality of special utility blades.

One of the objects of, the invention is to provide a knife of thecharacter described having an improved can-opener blade of theoscillatory type which will expedite the opening of cans.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplifled in the construction hereinafter described, and of which thescope of application will be indicated in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a side View of a knife embodying the invention with all theblades thereof closed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the blades open;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front View of blades closed;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing how the knife is used to opena can;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 inFig. 5; and

Fig. '7 is a sectional View taken substantially along the line 1-! inFig. 6.

Referring now to the drawing,

the knife with the I 0 denotes a knife constructed in accordance withthe invention. Said knife comprises a pair of spaced lining sheets l2and Hi joined at the ends thereof by two pivot rivets P. Sandwichedbetween the lining sheets i2, i i, are a side spacer it, a resilientblock spacer It, a central spacer 283, a second resilient block spacer22, and an auxiliary side spacer 24. All of these intermediate membersit-24 have their rear surfaces shaped to conform to the contour of therear 26 of the knife. The forward faces of said intermediate members areuniformly deeply recessed in accordance with standard knife constructionto provide a compartment 28 in which the various blades of the knife arereceived. These mernbers iii-2i are all provided with aligned similarcentral projections on their forward faces which together form a ridgepartment 23. A rivet R extends through said ridge and the lining sheetsI2, it to maintain the intermediate members Iii-2Q in fixed positionrelative to the lining sheets.

The side and central spacers I6 and 2t and the 30 projecting into thecomauxiliary side spacer 2t contour of the ends of the knife.

have their ends 32., E i and 36, respectively, enlarged to conform tothe The ends of the resilient block spacers are not similarly enlargedand thus leave room to receive the tangs of various knife blades. In thespaces thus provided between the enlarged ends of the side and centralspacers 24, 20, standard reamer and cutting knife blades 38 and it arepivotally supported.

A can-opener blade 42 is pivotally supported over an end of theresilient block spacer IS, the tang 44 of said blade being journaled onone of the pivot rivets P. The operative portion of the can-opener bladeis of a type customarily employed, and comprises a finger 46 from theend of which a headed stud 48 extends perpendicularly. An arcuatecutting jaw 49 is approximately parallel to the finger 46 and has acurved cutting edge 50 and a pointed tip 5| which can be used to punchan entry opening in the can.

An offset 52 integrally connects the tang M and operative portion of thecan-opener blade 42. Said offset is such that the finger 4B and jaw itwill lie immediately adjacent but out of contact with the juxtaposedlining sheet l2 when said blade is closed. For this purpose, the offsetis made almost equal to the thickness of the side spacer l6. Thelocation of the offset axially of the can-opener blade is such that saidoffset just clears the ends of the knife and will not interfere withopening and closing of the blade.

A can-opener blade constructed with an oifset such as above describedgreatly reduces the work required to open a can. The reason for this isbelieved to be that the offset causes the operative portions of theblade to be displaced laterally of the force utilized to oscillate saidblade during cutting. This lateral translation of the applied forcerelative to the point of cutting develops a couple which tends to turnthe blade in a clockwise direction (looking from the tang of the bladetoward the end thereof). Said couple urges the blade towards a bead B ofa can and causes the base of the stud 18 to press against said bead.This, in turn, causes the cutting edge 5!) to engage the top T of thecan as close to the bead B as the can-opener blade will permit. Bycutting this close to the bead, a shearing operation is performed on aportion of the top which is relatively rigidly supported and material ofthe can top will be sheared rather than torn or ruptured. The couplealso tends to rotate the which facilitates cutting. Furthermore, due toIt will be observed from Fig. 4, that said screwdriver blade 54 extendswell beyond the tip of the can-opener blade 42 and is thus much longerthan screw driver blades heretofore employed in knives having aplurality of special utility blades.

It will also be observed that the tangs and blades of both the screwdriver and the cancpener are of full thickness, that the screw driverblade is parallel to the lining sheets. I2, 14, and that said screwdriver blade does not cam against the can-opener blade when closing. Byvirtue of this construction, the screw driver blade will be of maximumstrength, its rotatable mounting on the pivot rivet will not be loosenedby repeated opening and closing, and said blade will extend straightfrom the knife and be parallel to the lining sheets, a highly desirablecharacteristic when working undenpoor light conditions.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thusdescribed by invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

A special utility knife can-opener blade of the oscillatory type,comprising a tang, an operative I portion including a finger having anextension adapted to engage the rim of a can and a member having acutting edge facing said finger, and an offset integrally connectingsaid tang and said operative portion, said offset extending fromsaidoperative portion ina direction opposite to that in which said extensionprojects.

MICHAEL A. MIRAND O.

